Chapter 29

THE ADDRESS LEB GAVE US FOR THE REBELS WAS PAST THE schoolhouse and in an area of

town I'd known well as a child. The road curved and the houses were run-down and sad, some falling

apart. It was more like Rosa in this part of the Austin slums, although many houses were painted bright,

happy colors.

We half jogged, half sprinted across the town, scurrying behind buildings and trees at every noise. It

was pitch-black, but the sun would start to rise any minute, and I wanted to get to the rebels before it was

light out.

"That one," I said, pointing as we approached a dirt road. I slowed to a walk as we turned down it,

glancing along the row of brown houses. According to the map, it was the last house on the right.

We reached the end of the street and trudged across the patchy, brown grass to the front door. This

house wasn't painted. It was brown wood and windowless at the front and narrower than the houses on

either side, but extended a bit farther in back. If the point was to not stand out, they had succeeded.

I glanced around the side of the house to see a short wooden fence. I gestured for Addie and Callum to

follow. "Follow me," I whispered, quickly darting around. We hopped the fence and landed in the dirt of

a tiny backyard. I crept up to the brown door at the back of the house and softly rapped my knuckles

against the wood.

Nothing.

I knocked again, a little harder, casting a nervous glance at Callum. Dealing with humans made me

fidgety. I hated relying on them for anything, and I could see by the hope in his eyes that he expected these

people would have all the answers.

"What?" a man's voice said very quietly, from the other side of the door.

"It's us," I said in a low voice. "Um, Leb sent us?"

Silence followed my words, then a flurry of noise. They were whispering to one another and running

around.

I dropped Callum's hand and reached to finger the gun at my hip. I wouldn't draw a weapon yet. I'd

give them a chance.

It took at least a minute, but the door finally swung open to reveal a bleary-eyed boy with messy, dark

curls, pointing a shotgun at my head.

Giving humans a chance was a dumb idea.

I grabbed my gun, but the human quickly held out his hand for me to stop. He was trembling.

"I don't want to use it," he said. "We're just cautious here. If you'd like to come inside, we're going

to need all your weapons."

"But you get to keep yours?" Callum asked.

Callum's easy, relaxed tone unsettled the human. I could see it in the way his eyes flicked between us,

swallowing hard as he looked Callum up and down. He was much shorter than Callum—almost as short

as me, actually—and he looked ridiculous pointing the gun at him. We were probably about the same age,

although he could have been a bit younger.

"If you want to come inside you have to give up your weapons," he repeated.

"Fine," I said, holding my gun out. I didn't need it anyway. With the way the guy was shaking, I could

take his gun, break his neck, and dance on the body in two seconds flat.

I smiled as I handed it over.

"Anything else?" he asked, lowering the shotgun. He looked pointedly at Addie.

"I got nothing," she said, holding up her hands.

I slipped the knife out of my pocket and gave him that as well. He took it, glancing over his shoulder.

He shifted from foot to foot, obviously unsure of what to do next.

A man appeared behind him. He was much taller than the boy, and he gripped at the edge of the door

with a massive hand. He also looked like he'd just woken up, and he ran a hand through his gray-streaked

hair as he squinted at us.

"Which one is Wren?" he asked.

"Me."

"Adina, then?" he asked, and she nodded. He focused on Callum. "And you're Twenty-two."

"Callum."

"Tony," he said. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "This is Gabe. Leb assured us you wouldn't

kill us. Are we all still good with that plan?"

The question was directed at me.

Callum actually laughed a little, and a smile twitched at the edges of my lips. "Yes."

Tony jerked his head and Gabe stepped back, keeping the gun trained on us as I crossed over the

threshold. The wood floors creaked beneath my boots and I squinted in the darkness as Tony led us

through a hallway and into the living room. The light came from a couple little lamps in the living room.

The only window, in the kitchen to my left, was covered by dark curtains.

There was another human, this one lanky with thick brown hair to his shoulders, sitting on the plushy

brown couch, his eyebrows lowered in a frown. He looked to be about the same age as Tony, and he

watched my every move as I stepped inside.

My eyes darted to the kitchen, but it seemed they were the only humans in the house.

Tony took big strides across the living room and stopped at the kitchen table, picking up a piece of

paper. He headed back to me and held it out. "As promised."

It was a map. I took it from him and looked from the drawing of Texas to the instructions written

below. The Reboot reservation was several hundred miles north, not far from what used to be the border

of Texas.

"We can help you part of the way," he said. "You can stay here until tomorrow night, then—"

He stopped. His eyes were focused intently on Callum, and I turned to see him pressed against the

wall, his hand covering his nose and mouth. His whole body was shaking.

"Oh, Jesus. He's been given shots, hasn't he?" Tony asked.

"Yes. You—"

"Desmond, go get some rope," he said, and the lanky guy hopped to his feet and scurried down the

hallway. He emerged a moment later with two lengths of rope and headed for Callum.

"What are you doing?" I asked, jumping in front of him.

"Sit down," Tony said to Callum. "Hands behind your back."

Callum stepped forward like he was going to listen to this human, and I grabbed his arm, pulling him

closer to me.

Desmond kept coming like he intended to push past me and I gave him a look like I dared him to try.

Tony put his arm out to stop him.

"It's for our safety," Tony explained. "Under-sixties can't be controlled on those crazy drugs HARC

gives them."

"It's fine, Wren," Callum said, running a hand down my arm before stepping closer to Desmond and

Tony. Desmond gestured for him to sit and he slid down onto the floor behind the couch. He put his hands

behind his back and Desmond began looping the rope around them.

"You're in between rounds still, aren't you?" Tony asked Addie.

"Yes." She glanced at me. "I told them there might be an antidote? Or something to make him better?"

Desmond tightened the ropes on Callum's wrists and moved down to bind his ankles. "There is one.

We don't have it, though."

"Who has it?" I asked. "Is it at HARC?"

"Do you want to sit?" Tony asked, gesturing to the kitchen table. "Do you want some water or coffee

or something?"

I paused. What was wrong with these humans? They seriously wanted to have water and coffee with a

bunch of Reboots?

Addie started toward the table but I wasn't leaving Callum tied up on the floor by himself while I had

a cup of coffee. I sat down next to him and he gave me a small smile.

"I just want to know how to get the antidote." I crossed my legs and met Tony's eyes.

He actually looked sad for a moment and his sympathy made me uncomfortable. I didn't know how to

handle that look from most people, much less a human.

"It's in the medical labs at HARC. There's . . . no way. I'm sorry."

There was no way for him.

"Don't you have people on the inside?" Addie asked. "Like my dad?"

"I'm on the inside," Tony said, leaning against the wall. "I've been a HARC guard for years."

Adina gave him a confused look. "Where? I've never seen you."

"I work up on the human floors, in the control rooms." He turned to me. "But I can tell you there's no

way one of our guys can get the antidote out. We don't have any people in medical and they search

everyone before they leave." He gave me that awful sympathetic look again. "I'm sorry."

If he told me he was sorry one more time I'd snap his neck.

"That's fine," I said. "I'll just have to break in and get it myself."

Gabe laughed, cutting off when I turned to him. He swallowed. "Oh. You were serious."

Tony and Desmond exchanged a confused look. Tony turned to me and seemed to consider his words

carefully. "Hon, you were just in HARC for five years, yes?"

"Yes. Don't call me hon."

"My apologies. So if you were just there, you know the security. You might get in. And that is a very

big might. But you would never get out."

"What about in the middle of the night?" Addie asked. "Skeleton crew."

"She's still way outnumbered. And they'd just lock the doors. Cameras would see her."

"We'll find a way to cut the power," I said.

"Backup generators," Tony said. "They kick on in about a minute. You couldn't do it in time."

I clasped my hands together as a rock started to form in the bottom of my stomach. I didn't care what

they said. I was finding a way to get that antidote.

"A bomb," I said. "What if we blew up a portion of the place? No one would miss it."

Desmond snorted. "I do like that idea."

"I don't," Addie said with a frown. "You might kill the Reboots."

"Not to mention we're a bit short on bombs here," Tony said. "Listen, hon—sorry, Wren—if I thought

there was a way you could do it, I would tell you. But there's nothing you can do." He let out a long sigh.

"I mean, maybe if you had an army of Reboots. But failing that, I've got nothing."

I froze, my eyes darting to Addie's. We had the same thought.

"How many are in there?" I asked.

"There's like a hundred and something." She looked at Tony, her eyes flashing with excitement.

"Right? A little over a hundred?"

"You mean in the Austin facility? Yeah, there're about a hundred Reboots left there. But they're not an

army; they're prisoners."

I glanced at Callum, who had an eyebrow cocked, his expression disbelieving. I put my hand on his

knee and gave it a gentle squeeze before facing Tony.

"Then we'll go let them all out."